TORONTO, ON – Ontario’s first child care policy summit will take place tonight and tomorrow at Ryerson University, bringing together leading figures in wide-ranging discussions about the impact of recent child care changes in Ontario and opportunities to advance progress on provincial child care policy.

The thought-provoking forum has been organized by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) and CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Ontario and is co-hosted by the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario; the Child Care Resource and Research Unit; and Ryerson University’s School of Early Childhood Studies.

Economist Jim Stanford and sociologist-activist Susan Prentice will kick off the summit with Friday evening’s session, titled “A Child Care System for Ontario: Why we can afford it and how we can build it.”

Other participating academic, activist and community leaders include Martha Friendly, Executive Director, Childcare Resource and Research Unit; Kate Bezanson, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Brock University; Donna Lero, Professor, Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph; Rachel Langford, Director and Associate Professor, School of Early Childhood Studies; and Bernice Cipparrone McLeod, Executive Director, Atkinson Centre, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.

“We are delighted to be holding this summit at such a critical juncture for child care in our province and our country,” said Carolyn Ferns, Public Policy and Government Relations Coordinator for the OCBCC.

“The issue is finally getting the attention it deserves as a crucial driver of equality, education and our economy. We anticipate that this event will inform many vital aspects of the ongoing debate and the strategies that we will need if we are going provide high-quality, affordable child care in Ontario.”

Saturday’s day-long forum will look at such topics as:

What can Ontario learn from other provincial and international examples?

A detailed examination of federal parties’ child care platforms and how they compare to the vision of Child Care 2020.

How to build an affordable and quality child care system for Ontario families.